Digital still cameras of the related art exist where magnification of a photographing lens can be changed between being wide angle and being telescopic by attaching a conversion lens at a female screw provided at a front end of a lens barrel.
However, with collapsible lens-type cameras where the lens barrel moves between a projection position projecting from the front of the case and a housing position where the lens barrel is housed within the case, when a conversion lens is attached to the lens barrel, the weight of the conversion lens subjects the lens barrel and the drive mechanism driving the lens barrel to inappropriate force, and it is therefore difficult to attach a conversion lens to the lens barrel.
Collapsible lens-type cameras have therefore been proposed where a projection covering the lens barrel at the front surface of the case is provided, with a threaded portion being formed at this projection. One end of a cylindrical adapter is then connected to this threaded portion, and the other end of the adapter is connected to a conversion lens (Japanese patent laid-open publication 2000-235222).
However, with configurations described above where a conversion lens employing an adapter is attached to a camera, it is necessary to provide a dedicated member for attaching such as a projection at the camera case. This increases manufacturing costs for the camera, restricts freedom of design of the case, and the attaching of the adapter and the projector using the threaded portion makes the operation of attaching and detaching the adapter to and from the camera troublesome.
In order to resolve this kind of situation, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lens adapter enabling the attaching of optical components such as filters and conversion lenses etc. without providing dedicated members for use in attaching to the camera and that may be attached to and detached from a case in a straightforward manner.